Operation: Poseidon’s Trident
by TheSans
Summary: A young graduate from the Picon National Guard is thrusted into the Colonial Fleet. What happens, when in the end, he is forced to fight against terrorists who have captured Troy? Will include Colonial Politics.
1. Chapter 1: Humble Beginnings

[T minus 12 years to fall, Picon National Guard Academy]

It was the Guard's Medical Corps graduation party. The class of 2375 A.K. (After Kobol) was a small class, just consisting of 35 graduates. While everyone was dancing, there sat one lonely graduate at one of the tables at the back of the hall, preferring to read a medical journal instead of partying like the rest of the class. The partying would go on for a few minutes until the honor roles started.

After all graduates returned to their tables the lead professor of the class spoke.

"Before we begin with the honor roles, there is someone, who would like to have a talk with you." The entrance opened to show the flag officer, Commodore Nash and his two personal guards. At a moments notice everyone stood at attention. The Commodore signaled everyone to be at ease. With a slow, but authoritarian walk he made his way to the podium.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Dear Cadettes or rather dear graduates." He stopped for a few seconds "It is my greatest honor to stand before you, the graduates of one of the most difficult medical classes in the colonies. And with pride, the most difficult medical class of Picon." He stared at all students "Your medical skills will be immense, even as the basic students, who had not chosen any special classes. From what your professors have been telling me, everyone of you can do basically everything between a simple check up to simple surgeries. Be assured, your class made some noise up there." The class gave out a small chuckle "I'm sure that you'll become some of the finest doctors of the colonies. But don't kid yourselves. We're on our own in this life, everyone of us. Adapt to your surroundings. Be ready for everything, the cylons, the next insurrection, whatever. Know that the people you may call your closest friends and allies could turn on you. Be ready for everything. Open eyes, always alert, so nothing happens that ruins you and your life forever. Because remember: Sometimes life can be it's s own death sentence. Thank you."

In respect to Picon tradition, every graduate would shake hands with the flag officer and be handed a medal and a certificate, both written in Traditional Piconese, which originated from pre-exodus Virgonese. That meant that Traditional Piconese was far away from standard Virgonese, as that language had majorly evolved 2 times in the 2000 years after the Exodus. It would be followed by an oath. The graduates would also receive their National Guard Rank Insignias. They were in the same order as the ones used in the Colonial Fleet, although no rank higher than Commodore had been given out since the decimation of the National Guard's fleet in the beginning of the Cylon War.

Daniel was last in line to receive his certificate, medal and rank. As an introvert he was rather happy to be last, as he would not have anyone behind him. When it was his turn, Commodore Nash talked to him in Traditional Piconese.

_"Cadet, I know that you are part of one of the 'Picon Hardliner' families. I also know of the reputation of your family. Cadet Hayes, due to your astonishing results in the Academy, there is something we have to talk about. Meet me in my office tomorrow at 0900." _He then started to talk in Caprican Standard "Cadet Hayes, I congratulate you to your amazing results during your time here. Here is your Medal Of Graduation and your Certificate Of Graduation. For your excellent results, the board has decided to commission you with rank of Lieutenant. Congratulations Lieutenant Hayes."

[ 0850, Picon National Guard HQ ]

The newly minted Lt. Hayes had just arrived at the National Guard's HQ, when he was approached by a Captain. "Lt. Hayes, the Commodore is expecting you already. Would you please follow me."

The next 10 minutes would pass without any notable events. At the Commodore's office, the Captain gestured Lt. Hayes to enter the office.

"Lt. Hayes! Welcome to my office. Please take a seat." Daniel did what he was instructed to do. "How was the party Lieutenant?"

"The party was good sir." Daniel responded.

"I'll cut to the chase. The reason I told you to come to my office is because I want you to join the Colonial Fleet. You would be commissioned as a Lieutenant and based on your results you would study at the Fleet's Aquarian Scientific Institute for 2 semesters, before being transferred to Queenstown Colonial Fleet Academy."

"But sir, you know my family and it's tradition. We have always served in the National Guard. And you also know that the older members of my family are Anti-Colonial Government. They would completely get on your nerves."

"No worries Lieutenant. I was able to persuade them to allow you to commission in the Colonial Fleet. You should also know that your younger brother and sister have been accepted in the National Guard. Now my question is: Will you accept my offer?"

Daniel thought about this decision for a quarter of an hour, but in the end he had made his decision. "Yes sir, I accept your offer."

"Good for you son. Your transport to Aquaria leaves in 1 week. You are hereby commissioned into the Colonial Fleet. And here's your pins. Your uniform is ready for you in Queenstown. God speed Lieutenant."

**_Author's notes: This was the first chapter of Operation: Poseidon's Trident. I wanted to make my character from Picon, because why not. This story will also be a Margaret 'Racetrack' Edmonson Alternate Universe, as I think that she didn't get what she deserved in the series._**

**_Edit: I changed the possible armageddon counter from T-8 to T-12 years._**


	2. Chapter 2: Picon to Aquaria

Chapter 2: Picon to Aquarion

_"Major Hayes is needed in CIC. I repeat Major Hayes is needed in CIC." _

_"What's the issue?"_

_"You are the last Senior Officer standing sir. Fleet regulations require you to take command of the vessel."_

_I'm a doctor godsdamnit, not a Commander." _

_Your record says you took part in Command Training on Picon. You got the Con sir. Congratulations and Godsspeed."_

_"Return the Trident and the Hostages. Once that has been done, we can start talking."_

_"Over my dead body, Picon Scum."_

"_I__ want all Vipers ready to launch in 5 minutes. Notify both Raptor Squasrons for an upcoming mission."_

[ Almost 4 years earlier, T minus 12 years to fall]

"Today is a big day for all of us Danny." his mother said during breakfast

"You're the first of us to join the fleet and to study at the naval scientific institute in Aquaria." added his father Daniel Hayes III. He had served in the engineer corps of the National Guard in the Cylon War along with his brothers George II., Henry and Frank. Henry unfortunately didn't make it out of the war alive. He left behind a widow and a son.

After the war Daniel III., George and Frank were picked up by Picon RD, a joint venture between the Fleet presence in Picon and the guard. Both organizations also had their own private sections. Daniel III. and George worked there, before George entered Politics and Daniel took over his father's (Daniel II.) Ambrosia venture.

He fathered 3 children and adopted Henry's son Jake after his mother OD'd. They were: Daniel IV., Henry II. and Sarah Hayes.

"We'll miss you up there bro. Visit us everytime you have leave-time. That's an order." came from Sarah.

It was then that his cab arrived. He said goodbye to everyone and left for the Spaceport.

[ Three hours later ]

He had arrived a bit late. He hastily made his way through to the Terminal where his ship was to depart from.

_'Picon Express Liner 32 to Aquaria is now boarding from gate 53' _came from the Spacedock's intercom.

He arrived at gate 53 to board. The attractive lady had already opened a boarding lane for passengers. Luckily there weren't many. PEL 32 was a smaller and older troop transport that had been converted into a passenger ship with an FTL Drive. A larger ship was not needed, as at a population of 25,000 people Aquaria was very small.

After giving his luggage to the personnel and checking in, he entered the Liner and seated himself on Seat 4A. The Business Class seat was very comfortable. 'Fleet privilege' he thought. _"Ladies and Gentlemen, we are ready to take off. Please strap on your seatbelts and..." _the person on the intercom talked about safety procedures for the flight. Soon that was over as well and the small liner started its takeoff sequence.

Its powerful military-grade engines lifted the ship into the sky with a loud roar.

The ship vibrated as it slowly made its way out of Picon's stratosphere. Once in a stable orbit it started spooling its FTL-Drive to jump to Libran Station located in Helios-Gamma. Some real estate investors were to board the liner to go to Aquaria to plan a possible real estate and infrastructure project.

The crew started the jump countdown and soon the ship jumped from Picon Orbit (Helios Alpha) to Libran Station (Helios Gamma).

[ Libran Station, Helios Gamma ]

_"Ladies and Gentlemen, we have arrived at Libran Station. We will stay here for just under 1 hour. If you have arrives at your destination or you need to get to another vessel, please exit from Portside exit #1. If you are going to accompany us to Aquaria, please remain on-board. Thank you."_ was the Pilot's statement once they had docked at Libran Station.

Daniel's neighboring seat had been unoccupied during the 10 minute venture from Picon to Libran, and not expecting someone to be seated next to him, he made himself comfortable.

"I'm sorry, but I think you're occupying me seat sir." came from an ensign around Daniel's age. "Ah yes, of course. Take a seat ensign." he told the young man. The two didn't talk much until mid-flight.

...

"What's your name sir?" asked the ensign.

"Daniel Hayes IV. And cut the Sir, we're off-duty. What's your name and where are you from?" was Daniel's answer.

"I'm Jack Robbins, son of Marty Robbins. And from the way I speak, you probably already should've concluded that I'm Virgonese." he said with a small chuckle.

"Not bad. At least you're not Gemonese or Sagittaron. I'm from Picon by the way. If you're from Virgon, what did you do on Libran?"

"I had to change vessels. It's really exhausting I tell ya. I guess you're also going to the Aquarian Scientifc Institute of the Fleet?"

"I guess any Fleet Officer, who goes to Aquaria only goes there for the Institute."

"I'm going to take a nap, but how about we share a place once we arrive at the Institute?"

"Sounds good to me." Jack took a nap and Daniel just looked at the stars outside.

Two hours later it was time. Jack was woken by the vibration of atmospheric entrance. Soon they were able to see Aquaria's surface from the ship. Aquaria was a cold planet, too cold for some to settle. But it was the best scientific research colony in the Cyrannus Cluster.

Founded as a research outpost, it soob grew into a a settlement. Then there were more settlements until Aquaria was it's own giverning body. The population of Aquaria almost fully consists of members of other tribes. Aquaria was known as a place where you could quietly retreat to, if you had had enough of the Colonies. That's how the planet's population grew as well.

As it's population is very small, Aquaria has become a direct democracy. There is no parliament, only 1 representative for the Quorum of 12 and 4 district governors, who only are there to implement ideas of the people.

_"Thank you for flying with PEL." _Daniel exited the Liner and stepped for the first time, stepped foot on "Aquaria".

**_AN: Chapter 2 is done. This one's short as well, but longer ones will come. Aquaria's system is based on our Switzerland._****_Characters: What they look like:_****_Daniel Hayes IV - Colonel Bishop from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon_****_Jack Robbins - Anton Yelchin_****_Also: The first bit of colonial politics will be presented in one of the next 3 chapters._**


	3. Chapter 3: Aquaria and 6 months later

"Aquaria" was the first reaction that came from Daniel after exiting the transport.

"The coldest motherfraking place in the colonies. Yes indeed." Jack responded to him.

The two men made their way through the murmur of the dock, coming both from the speakers and from the people present.

"Who knew trying to find the way would be **this** difficult on little Aquaria?" asked Daniel "Eh, I'm just pissed that the fleet gave us business class, but couldn't pick us up with the raptor to haul our asses to the institute," said Jack.

After several minutes they were able to find a taxi. The taxi took them to a near suburb of Aquaria Central, the de-facto capital of the planet of Aquaria.

They got out and they both shared the costs of the ride. That meant 14 Colonial Standard Cubits each. Every colony also had its own sub-currency system. Picon, for example, used the Picon Standard Pisces as a planet-wide currency.

The scenery in front of them was astonishing. The Institute of Science in front of them was a complex of several buildings with beautiful parks in between. The entrance building and reception were made out of steel and glass. It was one of the colonies' most modern architectural masterpieces, designed by Libran celeb-architect Frank Jamison.

There was a sign near where they were standing. It read _'Welcome to Scientifica, one of the colonies' oldest science hubs.'_

Once in the main building, the two young officers made their way to the receptionist's desk and signed in and went to their shared quarters.

"You never told me you're studying for Engineering and IT.," said Daniel. "I'm planning to maybe do comms back on Virgon as well. Besides, you never told me you're here for combat surgery." answered Jack.

"Yeah, I've already graduated from general medical on Picon. I then got transferred from Picon National Guard to the fleet. I'm here for a year, then I go back to Picon."

"Yeah, I'm staying here for 4 terms." Said Jack "Lessons are gonna start soon, wanna check out the institute later?"

"Yeah sure, let's go."

[ Combat Surgery Class ]

The CSC was located in the medical wing of the gigantic institute, which was on the completely opposite side of where Daniel and Jack's quarters were. The institute had: The medical wing, the engineering wing, the astronomy and astrophysics wing, the robotics wing, which was connected by bridge to the small RD wing and the IT wing.

He was running late already, and when he entered the class, it had already begun.

"Please take your seats, ladies and gentlemen, good morning Lieutenant, you're late." came from the Lt. Colonel, who seemed to be the instructor.

"Yes, sorry I'm late sir, I just arrived on Aquaria today," Daniel said and went to seat on a free chair.

"Noted. Now, my name is Lt. Colonel Benjamin Franklin Pierce. You can call me Colonel Hawkeye, it's my callsign. It comes from _'The Last Of The Mohicans'_ the only book my father ever read. T'was used when I was in the 4077th CMASH, back in the days of the 3rd Sagittaron War. All of you know basic surgery, right?"

The class nodded at his statement.

"Then buckle-up ladies and gentlemen, this 2-semester class will be very difficult and serious. This old war dog will teach you to perform surgeries the way you'd never think of. Are you ready?"

"Yes sir!" the class called.

"Alright, we will begin with theory and after that..."

[ In the Afternoon ]

The Surgical class had been really exhausting. Colonel Hawkeye was a funny fellow, but he expected everyone to work hard. The same argument could be said for Jack. He was half-dead by the time he had returned to their quarters.

Daniel had made it comfortable for himself and was watching a match of Pyramid on the TV they had been given.

_"And another successful counter by the Virgon Panthers. It is now 30:24 between the Virgon Panthers and the Tauron's Pride."_ came from the commentator of the game.

"Jack! How was the day buddy?" Daniel asked his roommate. "Man, it was damn exhausting. Let's explore the institute later, I'm done for today."

The two sat and watched the pyramid match. In the following 6 months, the two would learn more about each other, for example, their mutual interest in politics. They'd also meet new people in the institute. The cycle of watching pyramid and later playing triad would continue every day. The classes with Colonel Hawkeye continued as well. He was doing pretty well in the class and had acquainted himself more with the colonel. He had become more than just an instructor. He had become a mentor.

**_An:_**

**_Frak me, another short episode... Anyway, I do have some news:_**

**_1\. Sorry for taking so long for ch. 3. I had exams and will still have some._**

**_2\. The next chapter is Colonial Politics and other cultural geopolitical aspects in the colonies like which poor colonies were controlled by whom before the Cylon War. I'll try to explain the political system the colonies would use in my eyes as well._**

**_3\. vocabulary stuff: CMASH - Colonial Mobile Army Surgery Hospital. An easter egg. You know from where?_**

**_Colonel Hawkeye - Also an easter egg from somewhere, can you guess where? :)_**

**_4_****_. It'll take a few chapters before we leave the prologue and actually begin with Operation: Poseidon's Trident. Now: Everyone who knows Battlestar Lore well (hint: Boomer's made up home place) and has read the stories description will most probably know what I'm planning to do and what I'm trying to explain. Take a guess _****:D ;)**


	4. Chapter 4: Time for Politics pt1

_Chapter 4: Time for politics_ _pt.1_

The smell of freshly brewed coffee and the feeling of fresh, cold air woke him up. "Good morning sleepy," Daniel heard his roommate say, "I hope you don't mind that I woke up and made some definitely-not-premade-cheap-meal-for-students."

"Nah, don't worry about it. Lets rather look at election day. We both got no class and election results will come out on Sunday about 2100 Aquarian Standard Time." replied Daniel.

_"The top two candidates for Presidency are currently President Andrew Petersen (Caprica)_ _and his VP Richard Adar from Caprica." _came from the political commentator Jennifer Rose from Virgon Channel 1._"Running against them are Jeff Hartman, a governor from Scorpia, and ret. Col. Henry Blake from Picon."_

She was known to have pretty good guesses regarding who would be elected or which parties would build coalitions. She had guessed the election of the Liberal anti-military Governor Li in Leonis, which, even though the Leonis Empire had collapsed over 100 years in the past and along with it any sort of military power, was still pretty conservative.

_"For this election, I think that the duo from Scorpia and Picon will win over the two Capricans. Why? It is simple: Many have been unhappy about Petersen's policies and there have been several protests against his cabinet as well. I can't see how he is supposed to win." _said her colleague Andrew Jordan _"You're right Andrew, albeit I think that their victory will only be marginal_.

"They should better win. That Adar guy is a moron." Daniel said, "Did you read his plan? He wants to allow civilian contractors access to fleet computers and networks. That's like the dumbest idea I have ever heard. He also wants to cut the fleet budget. That means fewer ships."

"I guess, but I mean social programs aren't necessarily bad, are they?" asked Jack "No, they aren't, but cutting fleet budget would danger the safety of the colonies." was Daniel's response, "And the problem is that the weaker and poorer Colonies like Aerilon or Sagittaron will pay the most and the higher Colonies like Caprica or Gemenon will receive the most benefits. This is the problem."

"Yeah, that is right. Doesn't matter though, let's see what is going to continue to happen."

[ 1 hour later ]

_( Play: Battlestar Galactica OST - One Year Later)_

Several of the colonies had already voted for their representatives in the Chamber, with several colonies still counting their votes.

_Some of the Colonies have Voted already, including: Caprica, Gemenon, Tauron, Virgon and Canceron._

_We are still waiting for the other Colonies to count the votes. On to the presidential race:_

_Hartman and Col. Blake are leading the polls by 6%. More news as we get them. Stay tuned."_

[ 2 hours later ]

It had been an interesting time. More Colonies had voted. These were: Sagittaron, Libran, Leonis, Aerilon, and Aquaria. Missing were Picon and Scorpia.

Petersen and Adar had caught up and now Hartman and Blake were only leading by 2%.

_"The race has been close between the two teams. Everything is possible." _said Jennifer Rose "_Yeah, but how? How did Petersen and Adar catch up? It's unbelievable." _

[ 1 hour later ]

Scorpia and Picon had voted as well. It was now time to wait and see how it would play out. The political system in the Colonies was an electoral college. There were two Bodies of Parliament: The Chamber of Representatives and The Quorum of 12. The Quorum was like the Senate of the Earth nation called the United States, while the Chamber represented the House of Representatives.

In the past years, the Quorum had gained more and more power through several legislative acts, while the Chamber had been pushed into the background. While in the beginning the Quorum was meant to decide on controversial things and approve or disapprove legislative acts, as of late they had become the only deciding body, with the Chamber having no authority to decide on what they approved or disapproved. This meant that many legislative acts simply only went through the Quorum and the Chamber was ignored. While many protested, it wasn't easy to reverse this process to give the Chamber back the power they should've held to guarantee a balance in the government. The Quorum wasn't going to give back the power so easily.

While the Quorum holds 12 people, the Chamber holds 432 representatives, with the population and relative power of the Colonies deciding the number of representatives they could send. Of course, that meant that the more influential and powerful colonies had more representatives than the weaker ones. Aquaria, due to its very small population only had 1 representative, for example.

[ 4 hours later ]

_"The reports are in. Petersen has won the presidency by 4%. __It is now up to every planet to decide their support for the President-elect. If less than 6 planets support him, he'll be forced to lead the colonies with a minority government and if 6 planets support him, it will be more difficult for him to govern. And as usual, 7 planets or more means a majority government._ _More news as we get them. My name is Alex Anderson and stay tuned."_

The two couldn't believe that Petersen was able to win the Presidency again. According to plan they would now have to wait for 2 days for the last election results, which were as mentioned how many colonies would support and back Petersen and how many would oppose him.

[ Sunday 2050 Aquarian Standard Time ]

It was 10 minutes to 9. The President-Elect's press interview was up next and what Petersen was about to do would shock everyone.

_"Ladies and gentlemen, fellow Colonial Citizens. While we won the election, it seems as if many people do not support me and my decisions. So I have decided to step down. My VP Rochard Adar will serve as President in my upcoming second term. Thank you very much."_

AN: I'm sorry this episode couldn't be one chapter. I'm running out of ideas, but I wanted to send out another chapter.

Small Change'

characters:

Daniel Hayes - Marc Bendavid (with normal hair, not the supershort hair)


	5. Chapter 5: Time for Politics pt2

Chapter 5: Time for Politics pt.2

"What... wha-what? What the fracking hell just happened?" asked Jack, "It seems like Adar just happened." answered Daniel, "Let's now see what will happen." He decided to head out to the canteen to see if there were any other people there.

[ Canteen ]

The canteen wasn't empty nor full. Most people were minding their business. Daniel saw Colonel Hawkeye sitting at a table, so he joined him.

"Mind if I join you, sir?" He asked, "Cut the sir, Daniel. We are off-duty. Please take a seat."

"What do you think of the election results Colonel?" asked Daniel, "I think it's total bullshit. How were they able to fraking win? It was practically impossible. At the same time, we never thought we were going to survive the third fraking Saggitaron War either. I'm telling ya, that shit was mad." was the Colonel's answer, "Anyway, thanks for the chat, but I got to go. Go eat something son."

After hearing that, Daniel did feel a little bit of hunger building up, so he got himself a ration to eat.

[ 4 hours later ]

He went back to his dorm. As it was pretty late he decided to sleep. The next morning, as there was literally nothing to do, he decided to research a bit about the third Saggitaron War, where Colonel Hawkeye had served in the 4077th CMASH. What he found out was quite interesting:

_"The 4077th CMASH was active during the third Canceron War. The mobile hospital unit was located on Correan Peninsula, where the fighting was very heavy. The CMASH, along with other units of the CDC's ground forces, was threatened by many suicide attacks, where they would be attacked by squads, which didn't expect to make it back home.__Furthermore, they had several incidents with snipers and small enemy units, which in the end led the CDC to station a military camp near the CMASH to respond to any threat to the CMASH.__When the war ended, the CMASH had become a decorated military unit for saving countless soldier's lives and supporting the local population. Several of the personnel were awarded with... "_

Several hours were passed reading information about the 4077th CMASH and Daniel also found out about Colonel, back then Captain/Major Pierce. It surprised him that Pierce was so much against the war, but ended up teaching at one of the fleet's academies and ranking up to Lt. Colonel. He decided to ask him once at a later date.

_"And it is officially in! The Colonies are voting on their allegiance to President-Elect Adar. Here's what we already have available:_

_Caprica has voted in favor of Adar_

_Virgon has voted in favor of Adar_

_Sagittaron has voted against Adar_

_Polls suggest that Libran, Aquaria, Tauron and Leonis will vote in favor of Adar._

_The__ outcome is still unclear on the other Colonies to predict what will happen. We will reach out to you as soon as we have available information."_

If everything were to go as it had been predicted, Adar would at least have 6 planets backing him and they were all leading Colonies in every way possible ranging from Industrial to Technological.

"_We have more news coming in hot from election day:_

_Libran has voted in favor of Adar_

_Tauron has voted in favor of Adar_

_The imperial court of Leonis has voted in favor of Adar_

_Aerilon has voted against Adar_

_Aquaria is voting on their allegiance to Adar right now_

_Picon, Scorpia, Canceron and Gemenon are the last planets to vote on their allegiance. But Adar has already achieved a majority of planets supporting him, which means that the following votes will only decide the power of the opposition that Adar and his planets will face.__The Board of the Minor Colonies will then decide their allegiance in their own procedures of allegiance decisions. After that they will send representatives to the Chamber, who will serve as members of one of the colonies, even though they aren't representing said Colony. They're called lease-reps and they typically choose to serve as " leased" members of the opposition leader or the government leader.__We__ will come back to you, once the rest of the colonies are done voting."_

And with that, Adar had won the majority of the planets and cemented his presidency. Daniel was sure that fleet command was already going nuts, that they would soon surely be forced to shrink the fleet's size even more.

"That's still going to be a strong opposition." said Jack, "No, it won't." said Daniel, "Gemenon will always vote on the opposite of what Picon will vote. Before you ask, it's because of several conflicts from today and the past. One of them, for example, is that the Trident of Poseidon is in the Museum of the Gods on Gemenon, and Picon, with their main Patron being Poseidon, has and active claim the Trident since it was stolen during the first Virgo-Leonidan Conflict around 100 years ago, when the fighting on Picon had reached a maximum level. When the Trident was stolen, Picon had become the major battleground in a three-way fight between the Virgonese, Leonise and the Pisces Separatist Army. Fast forward to 90 years ago, the newly established Piconese Empire, with the imperial family being a mix of the Leonis and Virgon Imperial families, threatened Gemenon to give back the Trident and several of the other artifacts stolen from Picon. Gemenon declined and Picon annihilated the Gemonese expedition fleet on their way to Aerilon. And that kickstarted a series of conflicts between the two. They are still going on to this day. Picon and Gemenon are the only ones to implement a Visa system, and they're implementing them on each other. There's also something else that isn't being said today. The 2 year total embargo on Gemenon, which killed 12 million Gemonese, because nothing could enter or leave the planet, was caused by Picon. Gemenon has of course done everything to cover it up by saying it was due to separatists, as it was a humiliating defeat for the Gemonese. History mode off, and that's why Gemenon will always vote against Picon." concluded Daniel, "Okay. You know some mad history stuff. Where did you learn it, and how did the embargo end?" asked Jack, "A Picon hardliner family knows everything about Piconese history. And the embargo ended through a joint ultimatum by Caprica, Virgon, Leonis and Tauron."

Several hours later it came just as Daniel had predicted: Picon, Scorpia and Canceron voted against Adar, while Gemenon voted in favor of Adar. With that, it was a 7:5 victory for Adar. Caprica had become the Majority Leader and Picon had taken the role of Opposition leader. The Board of Minor Colonies had voted for Adar and their representatives started serving as reps for Virgon.

A few days later, Adar's presidency officially began, and with it the downscaling of the Fleet. To quote him from his first speech: _"[...] The Fleet is way too large for our economy, there is no threat to the Colonies. The Cylons haven't shown themselves for almost 30 years. Tomorrow I will sign an executive order to disband the 3rd 5th reserve fleets and use the money that would've otherwise been spent for their upkeeps to start a new, Colonial wide social support service for all citizens. [...]"_

**AN:**

**Next chapter finished. Will try to get the next chapter out as fast as possible.**


	6. Operation: Poseidon's Trident Ch6: Home

_"Mom! Dad! I'm home!"_

On his way back to Picon he thought of his first day in elementary school. Living in Goodyear, the bus always picked him up first and dropped him off last. It was an upper middle class small town. It had a population of 2000 scattered over a radius of 50 miles of the finest ambrosia fields on Picon. Its scenery was great too! Many TV series from all over the Colonies would come here to shoot an episode or two.

Goodyear was founded by Picon National Guard retirees and since then the town became a hotspot for retired militaries who just wanted to have some peace they well deserved. Jack's family was the same case. His great-grandfather, Henry I. also was one of the founders of said town after he retired from the Guard's engineer corps.

But his family aside, this was the place Jack grew up in. This was what he could easily call home and he knew what was in the town, and where it was.

After his cab set him off near their home, he was anxious. He was anxious of what would happen after he came in. Would his family jump up? Would they not react at all?

He put his key in and opened the door. He went in, but all was empty. No sounds, no surprises. Walking around and searching for a bit, he came upon a note left by his mom.

_"To my dear son Daniel!_

_Sorry we couldn't surprise you for your return. __We're in Queenstown for a few days. We're back in 4 days from the time you get to read this note._ _Could you please look after the Ambrosia plants? You can also open up the business if you're bored._

_Much love,_

_Mom"_

So family was out of town. After settling in, still in his uniform, he decided to open up the shop and tend to the plants. After a long 2 hours of work the Ambrosia plants had been looked after and he had settled in the small shop part of their house. There wasn't much to do. Every hour or so a customer would come to buy some Ambrosia. There weren't many customers at this time of year, as many would leave town during the high summer season on Picon to travel to other planets or other parts of Picon.

That meant that over the next 4 days all he had to do was sell the occasional ambrosia and lay down and enjoy the warm weather and the warm sun. Two things that you never could experience on Aquaria. He definitely missed the sun, but the winter experience on Aquaria was also great.

When his family returned, they all cheered for him and they all went out to eat at a good place to enjoy the rest of the day.

"So Junior, when are you transfering to Queenstown Academy?" asked his dad, Daniel III.

"Tomorrow 1600 hours. Pretty tight schedule, but I guess what can you do?" he responded. "You can't be serious." said his younger sister Sarah "You just came back." "Sorry sis, fleet regulation."

For the rest of the day they just caught up on what happened. The fsmily business was running fine and it had been a great season.

On the next morning he would go to Queenstown Fleet HQ and Academy. There, something would happen that would change him forever.


	7. Chapter7:Attack

[ T minus 8 years to Fall ]

Three years have passed since Daniel entered Queenstown Fleet Academy on Picon. Training came and went and Daniel was promoted to Captain.

He was in the cantine, eating a meal and doing some paperwork.

[Same time]

4 masked figures in matching black overalls were slowly crawling in the maintenance shafts that ran along the walls at the ceiling of the Cantine hall.

"Are you ready?" asked one figure over wireless. "Yes." came from someone else. A series of affermatives followed.

The 4 figures were positioned at different ends of the maintenance shafts.

They all took out what seemed to be stun grenades on the order of the apparent leader. "On my mark. 3. 2. 1. Fire in the hole."

[Down on the ground]

Daniel was eating his meal when suddenly the openings of the maintenance shafts got kicked down by someone. "What the Frak?!" was everything Daniel could say before stun grenades took him out.

[???]

"Life. What is it all about? Money? Power? Maybe achieving a spiritual goal?" A deep, but comfortable voice asked. "Where am I? What happened? Who are you?" Daniel asked the dark skinned man he just saw. He was wearing white clothes while Daniel wore his fleet uniform. "You are in the space between spaces. Beyond time and existential intelligence." Was the answer. "Forget all that spiritual shit. Where am I?" Daniel demanded "I already told you; you are in the space between spaces. Beyond time and existential intelligence. Think of this place as a waiting room." The man told him.

"If this is a waiting room, what are we waiting for?" Daniel asked in a curious manner "I don't know." Was the answer of the still unknown figure.

"What the frack do you mean 'I don't know'?! You brought me here. How do you not know the purpose of this place?" - "That's not completely correct. Tell me Daniel, what is the last thing you remember?" - "I was in the cantine, I was eating some food and doing paperwork. Then suddenly someone kicked down the openings of several maintenance shafts on the ceiling... and that's it." Daniel said.

"Those were terrorists funded by the Gemonese. They call themselves Juno's Following. They were coming for your head." The man told him "Hold on. Coming for my head... I'm dead?! Lords of Kobol I'm dead? I'm dead!" The man chuckled "Relax. You're not dead. You are unconscious. It's pure luck that you're still alive, but you're alive."

"If I'm unconscious;" Daniel said, adding 2 and 2 together "Does that mean that we're in my brain?" He asked. The man chuckled again. "Humanity's curiosity has never failed to impress me. The answer of your question is yes, but no at the same time."

"What do you mean yes and no?" Daniel exclaimed. He was visibly frustrated "I'll try to explain it in a simple manner, no need to stress your brain more than it already is. While your brain is the force that is projecting all of this. It isn't the one controlling it. That would be me. Let me show you." The environment changed and they suddenly found themselves on one of the VIP Suites of Caprica Tower. Daniel noticed that he was wearing a lavish civilian outfit instead of his uniform. The unknown man lead him to the balcony.

"Cap City. One of my favorite places in the colonies. Especially this place. You can see many of the beauties of Caprica at once from here. Look there." He pointed towards the west "That's Cap City Bay. And to your south-east," he pointed in that direction "is the spaceport."

The spaceport was from long before the cylon war and represented one of the golden ages of Caprica. Made out of hand-carved Marmor with many gold accents, it showed the glory of humanity's center in the universe.

"I never asked what your name is." Daniel asked.

**"**Call me Neil.**"**

"Are you a Human?"

**"**Yes and no, but nowadays mostly no**."**

"I'm not gonna ask what that's supposed to mean... Back to my question: what am I doing here?"

"You're a bit of a special type of person. In a Good way, kind of."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Gonna tell you later. You're waking up again, so I'm done here for now."

Just before he left, Neil said, "By the way you're gonna blow up a Planetoid. Have fun" and he vanished.

[2 days later]

His head was ringing and he felt dizzy.

"Ugh... My head..." he muttered. "Take it easy Danny. Take it easy" Daniel recognized the voice of his friend Simon. "Simon... The Frak happened man...? Did the toasters attack or something?" he asked in a surprised tone. He tried to get up, but Simon held him down.

"Nu-uh. Doc told me you're not allowed to get up yet, but to your question: no. They didn't attack. It was something else. I don't know what it was but I've been told that you're supposed to go to a briefing once you're out. Don't know anything more."

Daniel knew Simon from the time he learned to fly a raptor. He was 6"4, so he was a bit taller than Daniel's 5"11.

After being cleared to leave he had been ordered to fleet HQ for a briefing.

Once there he had to go through several security checkpoints before being allowed to enter the conference room.

There was an oval shaped table in the center of the room with several chairs, and in front of every chair was a document

There weren't many people in the room, most of them were Commanders. There was also another person. He wore the same uniform evryone else wore, but his was dark Grey instead of dark blue. He also didn't have a round patch on his left shoulder like a normal officer in the fleet. Instead, there were three letters. FIS. Daniel only knew that the FIS was the Fleet Intelligence Service. It was a Subdivision of Fleet Security. That was all that Fleet members with standard security clearance knew about the FIS.

But the mysterious officer was not important. Vice Admiral Stevens had just entered the room and signaled everyone to take a seat at the oval shaped table. He had started his career shortly after the cylon war as part of the so called "mothball federation", otherwise known as the reserve fleet.

Daniel still didn't know why he was at the briefing, as he had been newly received the rank of captain and everyone there outranked him by at least 2 ranks.

The Admiral started the Briefing, "Ladies and Gentlemen, you all know why we are here. Three days ago the Museum of Culture along with the fleet academy were attacked by an unknown group. Poseidon's Trident was stolen along with several other valuable religious items. While Picon is not the most religious planet of the Colonies, the religious parts still have some major power and they are not happy. You have surely noticed the officer in the Grey uniform. This is Lt. Colonel Smith from the Fleet Intelligence Service and they claim to have gotten some info about the attacks."

The Admiral gave him the sign to start.

"Yes indeed; the group calling itself Juno's Following has claimed to have been the attackers. We are fairly sure that they have a connection of some sort with Gemenon. Juno is the alternative name of Hera, the Patron God of Gemenon. We were able to locate the group on Troy, where they have all of the items stored. They would have probably been smuggled to Gemenon, but we have put Troy on lockdown. No ship will enter or leave the planet. But we have to act fast, because the blockade will be lifted by the Quorum once they find out about it. That's why speed is of the essence. If we are not able to get the items back before the blockade is lifted, we will have a major crisis on our hand. A crisis that could throw all of the Colonies into chaos."

"I understand the importance of these artifacts", Daniel sprung into the conversation, "But why am I here? I'm the lowest ranking officer in the room. I'm neither Fleet Intelligence nor do I command a section or ship. Could I know the reason for my presence?" he asked.

The Admiral's assistant answered him "We believe the terrorists attacked the academy to take you as hostage or kill you. This would possibly be because of your family being part of the Hardliners. They fought against Gemenon in the Picon-Gemenon war, and brought back Poseidon's Artifacts to Picon. The same artifacts that have been stolen by the terrorists. That is the same reason you are here."

This confused Daniel. "But sir, while my family is part of the Hardliner Society, we have completely retreated from politics on a voluntary basis. The only influence we still hold is in Picon RD and the National Guard. But we're talking colonial fleet and politics. What would my family have to do with this? "

"It seems like you need a small lecture in history. Your family was indirectly one of the forces responsible for the Great Gemonese Famine and they had quite a large private fleet. In fact, if I remember correctly, they were part of the board that ran the Private Military Company (PMC) called _Overlord_, credited with several massacres on Gemenon and Canceron. Do you need any more reasons as to why one would still hold interest in attacking a member of the Hayes family of Picon?" the Officer from the FIS asked.

"No sir, but that still does not explain why I'm here." Daniel answered.

"You're here because the FIS wants you to be a part of their operation to reclaim the trident." said Smith, the officer from the FIS. "Report to the cruiser Heracles tomorrow at 0400. Dismissed.

_AN:_

_1\. Yes, I know I'm really not a good fanfic author, I just do it because it distracts me from my life and all the stress accompanying it._

_2\. Yes, it did take me a long time to complete this one._

_General Info:_

_The FIS: as already stated: Subdivision of Colonial Fleet Security. I'll try explaining it through Star trek: if CFS is Starfleet Intelligence, then the FIS is a bit like Section31, but not as extreme or topsecret. That's a different organization in the Colonial Military._


	8. Chapter8: Heracles

[0330 Queenstown Standard Time]

An unmarked raptor took off from Queenstown at dusk. It had a grey color scheme, unsual for either civilian or military raptors. It jumped away after breaking atmosphere. It reappeared in the orbit of Euboea, a moon of Helios Delta's gas giant Hera.

"Heracles is a good ship sir." said the lieutenant who was piloting the craft. "How old is the Heracles again? 25 years? That old ship is probably venting atmosphere from half of its compartments right now."

_"Hotel-Romeo seven-niner, this is Heracles Control. State your intentions and send authorization codes immediately." _came over the speaker before the pilot of the raptor could respond to Daniel's statement.

"Heracles Control, this is Hotel-Romeo seven-niner piloted by Speedy. I have authorized crew replacement on board. Transmitting codes now."

_"Codes have been verified. Hands-on approach. Speed 170, runway clear. Checkers are green. Call the ball." _

"Roger, I have the ball" said Lt. Amelia 'Speedy' Willson as she took manual control and landed the Raptor in the single Hangar Bay of the Heracles. "LSO's a hardass. Avoid him as much as you can, sir."

"Thank you for the tip Lieutenant." Daniel said as he picked up his duffel bag and exited the raptor. It took him some time until he found the crewman who was waiting to take him to CIC.

**_CIC_**

"Captain Daniel Hayes, Medical Officer reporting for duty sir." Daniel saluted as he arrived at the plotting table. "Did you enjoy your coffee Captain?" the commanding officer, a middle-aged Colonel asked.

Quickly understanding what the Colonel meant, Daniel replied that the coffee was very delicious indeed. The Colonel signaled for the XO and Daniel to follow him to his quarters.

"My name is Kane. This is Lt. Colonel Nistor, the XO. This is a FIS ship, not Fleet. We do many things differently. If you get an order that you think violates the rules of the Libran Accords of the Conduct of Warfare or any other of your fancy treaties then shut up and keep that bullshit for yourself. Because there are two things you should never forget:

FIS operates with disregard towards the 'rules'. We do the dirty work the fleet doesn't want to do. And what happens in the FIS, stays in the FIS.

Dismissed, get back to your post."

With that, Daniel left the commander's quarters and headed to the medbay.

"Frakking fleet had to send the guy." Kane muttered "And all that, because he is part of some hardliner Picon family that is irrelevant anyway. I told 'B' to ignore him and concentrate on the job. But he didn't want to listen." Was the response from Nistor.

"Tell me Antoniu, what do you think of him? Will he be any hindrance or danger to our actual mission?" Kane asked the XO. "I don't know."

**_Medbay_**

Daniel arrived at his Medbay. The medium sized compartment was equipped with gurneys and medical equipment. There were also two nurses who would be put under his command, but they didnt have shift duty yet.

Therefore, Daniel headed to his quarters, which were adjacent to the Medbay. After unpacking what little he had brought onboard with him, he decided to take a look at the records of the crew. As the chief medical officer -rather the only medical officer- onboard he had the access to those files.

He started with the Colonel and the XO.

_Name: Robert_

_Surname: Kane_

_Sex: Male _

_Rank: Colonel_

_Colony: Gemenon_

_Age: 41_

_Duration __Of Service: 20yrs_

_\- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _

_Name: Antoniu_

_Surname: Nistor_

_Sex: Male_

_Rank: Lt. Colonel_

_Colony: Canceron_

_Age: 39 _

_Duration of Service: 18yrs _

'Interesting' he thought. 'A Gemonese commander tasked with an anti-terror mission against terrorists possibly backed by Gemenon?' That was weird. But it didn't matter. For now at least.

Colonel Kane entered CIC. "Colonel Nistor, Sound Action Stations. Comms, connect me to the ship." The Comms officer did as he was ordered. _"This is the Commander. In a few moments we will jump into the orbit of Troy. Our mission is to retrieve the historical artifacts and to neutralize the terrorist forces currently present on Troy. All decks prepare for immediate jump." _He put the coded phone back into its booth. "XO, start the clock."

The XO signaled the navigations officer to activate the jump key and start the countdown.

"Jumping in...

...5

_...4_"

Daniel felt his body being pressed together; he didn't like the feeling but he had heard that one would adapt once they experienced enough jumps.

"_...3_

_...2 _

_..1_"

**_AN: Another chapter wrapped up. Yes it is a short one, but I was simply creatively exhausted and I had and have a lot to do. Just know that this story is a first time experience for me. It is also an experiment for me. I'm just testing the water if that makes sense. Should I finish this story, then the next stories in this Alternate Universe should and will be better. _**

**_Anyway, small info about the Heracles. No, this is not the Heracles Class from Deadlock, that one would've been long decommissioned 8 years before the fall. It's a Bezerk Class Assault Carrier._**


	9. Chapter9:Troy1

_...3_

_...2_

_...1 _

The ship jumped into the orbit of Troy.

Troy, one of the largest mining operations in Colonial history, was normally bustling with activity; transports and cargo vessels were launching or landing by the minute. But this time everything was silent. Even the short wave radio chatter between the workers had stopped.

Troy, along with Pallas, both in Helios Beta, were planets which had both had attempts of kobolization started on them. Both projects failed and cost the colonizers Virgon and Leonis billions of cubits. But that didn't stop them from colonizing the planets. The people just decided to live in shielded domes. These massive complexes allowed for 3.3 million people to live and work on Troy, providing most resources for many projects, military and civilian alike. Pallas only had a population of 7000 and was a research planet.

"Dradis is clear, no radio activity." reported the Dradis officer. "Fine, bring us into geosynchronous orbit." The Heracles swiftly maneuver to its intended position. "Dradis contact. No transponders, IFF unconfirmed." said the Dradis officer. "Based on dimensions Dradis is classifying it as a... Sir, this is odd. Dradis is classifying the ship as a Leonidas-Class Battleship."

"Lieutenant Ellis, reasses your readings. Communications, check sensors for any type of sustained damage." Ordered Kane.

The Leonidas Class was a class of Pocket Blattleship developed by the Imperial Leonan Fleet towards the end of the Imeprial Wars. It was part of a poorly funded and poorly executed modernization attempt of the Imperial Fleet to try and catch up with the navy of Virgon. The program failed and the Imperial Fleet canceled the Leonidas Program all together. The Leonidas and the Sparta, the two ships completed before the cancellation, were given to the Imperial Marine Corps.

———

The unknown ship slowly continued moving towards the Heracles. Any attempt at hailing it had been unsuccessful. Staring at the Dradis console, Colonel Nistor grabbed his corded phone unit. "This is the XO; launch the alert fighters."

Twelve Vipers shot out like darts from under the Heracles and assumed a defensive position around her. The unknown ship slowed down, but it's crew had an ace up their sleeve. A weak ringing tone spread over the wireless. "Heracles, this is flight leader. Our Dradis is gone; we can't detect anything anymore."

Back on the Heracles there was something similar happening. "Commander, something is wrong with our Dradis sir. We aren't able to identify the enemy ship based on its dimensions anymore. It seems as if our Dradis accuracy is being lessened by something." Came the frantic call of the Dradis Officer.

At the same time a small boarding craft approached the Heracles from behind the Viper screen and connected itself to the ship near the auxiliary sensor and communications array. The occupant of the craft cut their way through the hull of the Heracles and entered the ship. They left a package near a container for damage control equipment and disappeared into the corridors of the ship.

"Commander, ship sensors are registering a contact near the auxiliary sensor and comms array. One of our vipers verified that a type of boarding craft has connected to ship. There's also an electrical fire in that area." came the report of the tactical officer.

"Colonel, investigate the matter. Take over command of damage control in that sector." came the order from the commander. The colonel moved towards the doors of CIC. "Have every marine on that deck to convene on its location now! Tell them to hold fire until my arrival"

By the time colonel Nistor had arrived at the boarded section, a squad of marines had set up and waited for him. "Corporal, sit-rep." barked the colonel as soon as he had arrived. "Sir the vessel was empty when we arrived. We checked the vicinity and found nothing. We only found the package over there." The package was made out of brown leather and had red stitchings.

The colonel went to the next intercom and called CIC. After some discussion he returned to the corporal and the marine squad. "We're to evacuate this section and put the ship on lockdown. Fan out, evacuate and get our bomb specialist here as soon as possible. I'm staying here to inspect the vessel."

———

In another part of the ship, the sickbay, Daniel was preparing sickbay for combat when the announcement came that the ship was going into lockdown. A pair of Marines entered the compartment with orders to guard it.

———

Back in CIC, the last preparations were being made for the lockdown. "Commander, all compartments report ready for lockdown. All hatches have been sealed, Marines are patrolling the corridors and unnecessary bulkheads have been closed." Reported the officer responsible for the lockdown.

"Fine" the Commander grabber his comms unit and switched to ship wide communication. "_This is the Commander, shipwide lockdown will go into full effect in 60 seconds._" Sixty seconds later the lockdown officer addressed the ship. "_Full scale lockdown has gone into full effect, do not leave your station or compartment except in a case of an absolute emergency with a marine guard._"

———

Regular patrols had been set up within the hour in several sections of the ship. It was during one of these patrols that corporal Jonathan Harper found 2 unconscious crewmen and a trail of blood. "This is Marine Team 7. We have unconscious crewmen and trails of blood on deck 6 frame 10. I repeat...

_... unconscious crewmen and blood trails on deck 6 frame 10._" This report confirmed that there was at least one unidentified infiltrator on the ship. "Marine 7, this is Actual. Check the crewmen for life signs."

The marines did as they were ordered. Both crewmen were alive, but one seemed to have broken an arm. After giving their report, the two marines were ordered to follow the trail of blood to find the boarding party.

After following the blood trail for some time, they found another unconscious crewman on deck 5 frame 17. He was alive as well, and after the arrival of several medics and marines the pair continued with their orders.

The trail ended near the aft armory on deck 5 section 26. The hatch to the armory was open and the officer inside was dead. Shot in the head.

**_Authors Note: _**

**_I'm back with the next chapter. I'd like to thank my sorta beta-reader Dokka for helping me with this chapter and story. I don't know when the next chapter will come out but I'll try to do it as soon as possible._**


	10. Chapter10:Troy2

The armory was a mess. Blood was splattered everywhere, and the normally systematic layout of the different armaments had completely disappeared, as if there had never existed anything like it. There was equipment on the ground, the shelves had been tripped over and a bad stench had filled the air.

"Lords of Kobol, did a hurricane pass through here?" John's long time teammate asked. "No one knows Vlad. Whatever it was, it was crazy!" Suddenly Vladimir's foot stepped on something and a clicking noise was heard. "We've gotta get out. NOW!" John screamed from the top of his lungs. The two ran as fast as they could towards the exit. As the makeshift device exploded, the two men jumped out of the hatch together and landed on the metal floor on the other side of it.

"That was a hard landing. You alright Jack?" The Alarm klaxons could be heard and the lights in the corridor were flickering. Yet, John Harper was not experiencing any of it. It was as if he was in a trance. After repeatedly trying to get an answer from him and failing, Corporal Vladimir Skalinsky lifted up his friend and comrade-in-arms and started to carry him to sickbay.

———

As corporal Skalinsky reached sickbay with Harper in tow, the Heracles shook again.

"Doctor, I got a wounded, doctor I got a wounded!" He called out. Daniel walked over to his patient and started to examine him. "Did he hit his head?" He asked "I think so. We... we were in the aft armory when an explosive went off. We made it out but it seems like he hit his head after the jump."

To Vladimir'a horror, the Doctor slapped John's face. In an instant John was completely conscious again. "Nurse, get him a bed. He needs some rest. And I believe you should report to CIC. You can use my comms unit over there." Daniel pointed to his small working area.

———

"Commander, incoming communique from Sickbay." Reported the comms officer from his station. "Patch it through." Ordered the XO. Both him and the CO wore headsets.

"This is actual. Go ahead."

"_This is corporal Skalinsky. There was an explosion in the aft armory caused by a makeshift explosive. Corporal Harper is recovering in sickbay._"

"Do you know anything about the explosion after the first one?"

"_Negative, sir. It could have been another explosive device._"

"Those explosions caused a lot of damage. Corporal, secure your section and inform CIC in case you receive new intel." Came the order.

———

Back in CIC, the damage control panel was lit up like a Christmas tree. "Those two explosives blew clean through our aft sections! Engines 2 and 3 are out of commission until we reach a shipyard and the fuel lines to the rest have been extensively damaged. We're dead in the water." Reported the XO. The situation was dire. "We are receiving reports of violent decompressions from frame ten to twelve. What are your orders sir?"

"Seal off everything from frame 9 onwards and vent. Anyone in one of those frames will have a minute to evacuate on my mark." Kane took and activated a ship wide intercom. "_This is the Commander. Seal off everything from frame 9 onwards on my mark. Everyone in the affected frames and sections has a minute to evacuate. Your minute begins in 3, 2, 1, MARK._"

With that, the few crewmen that were in the affected sections evacuated and sealed everything off. With the turn of a key, the sealed off sections air was vented into space, extinguishing every fire.

"Commander, we're having an incoming transmission from the unknown vessel." Informed their comms officer. "Put them through."

"_Hello Colonel Kane. I want my prisoner back._"

"What prisoner?"

"_You know exactly what I'm talking about. How about you tell me the truth, Kane. That explosion was visible all the way to Caprica._"

"I do not know what you are talking about. We do not have a prisoner of yours on our ship."

"_Wrong answer. Too bad._" And with that, the caller hung up, leaving the sound of static to be heard on the phone.

Another explosion rocked the ship.

"Sitrep!" Demanded the commander.

"Main sensor-array has gone off-line. DRADIS and comms are out. Estimated activation of secondary arrays in 2 minutes."

Out in space, 20 of the boarding crafts were approaching the blinded ship. They quickly connected themselves to the hull and disembarked their passengers.

The invasion of the Heracles had begun.

**_Finally back with a Battlestar chapter!_**


End file.
